Trump’s Foreign Policy: Implications for Europe and East Asia

DONG JUNG-MIN: Why do you think the Americans have elected Donald Trump?

BARTHELEMY COURMONT: My first impression about the result of this election is that the Americans have probably rejected Hillary Clinton more than they have supported Donald Trump. She remarkably underperformed in nearly every state compared to Obama’s results in 2012, and overall, she has lost no less than six million of 2012 Obama voters who decided either not to vote, or perhaps even vote for Trump. Her pitiable performance in traditionally “blue” states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin, alongside her incapacity to win the support of swing states (Florida, Ohio, North Carolina…) was the key of this election. Her campaign is certainly to blame, as she failed in mobilizing the democratic electoral base. More than Trump’s victory, this election is Clinton’s defeat, even if she came up with more voters than Trump at the national level, like Gore did against Bush in 2000.

Yet, the reality is that more or less half of the people who voted have given their vote to Trump. Although he has not received a full support from the Republican Party, his supporters are republicans, and have expressed their anger against the establishment (which includes some independent voters). The people who voted for Trump feel left behind, scorned, unheard, and a candidate like Hillary Clinton symbolizes all that this silent majority (although not an actual one) despise. The U.S. society is more divided and polarized than what pollsters and analysts have predicted, and this division served a candidate such as Donald Trump…